Status of hepatitis B vaccination in newborns in Tiandong county of Baise city, Guangxi province

ObjectiveTo determine the situation of hepatitis B (HepB) vaccination in newborns in Tiandong county of Baise city and the factors that affected the rate of vaccination in attempt to provide the strategy for raising the vaccination rate of HepB. MethodsThe study on the HepB vaccination was carried out on 270 local newborns. All candidates were born between 2005 and 2007 and selected by stratified random sampling from 3 towns, together with the villages under jurisdiction of them, in Tiandong county of Baise city, including 1 town besides the county, 1 town besides highway and 1 remote town. ResultsFor HepB, the first dose timely vaccination rate, the whole course timely vaccination rate and whole course vaccination rate in the newborns investigated were 45.6%, 34.8% and 41.1%, respectively, with the hospital delivery newborns having significantly higher scores in all the three rates listed above than the home delivery newborns doing. (I/Isup2/sup=74.86, 74.48 and 94.84, respectively, IP/I﹤0.01). Of the parents of newborns, 40.7% were identified to have the knowledge for prevention and management of HepB. ConclusionThe rate of HepB vaccination in newborns was comparatively low in Tiandong county of Baise city, which may be improved by raising the hospital delivery rate and popularizing the knowledge of HepB.